Made of Sea and Stars
by Seito
Summary: Huh. Sawada Tsunayoshi might be a meek kid, but his friends were clearly a bloodthirsty, protective lot if their first reaction to Reborn was to kill him. He might actually enjoy this job. In which everything is different, and yet Tsuna ends up in exactly the same mess.
1. Chapter 1

It's March 9th.

* * *

Reborn had been expecting a meek child who lacked a backbone. There was a wealth of information on Sawada Tsunayoshi, if only to settle Iemitsu's own paranoia. The reports revealed a shy child with little to no friends, a tuxedo cat for a pet named Morgana, and a bully problem. Grades were mediocre, just enough to say he wasn't a complete idiot and failure, but still overall poor. (If Japan had a habit of holding back its students, Tsunayoshi would have easily repeated a grade or two at his rate.)

Coordination was poor. It was looking at a young Dino all over again. Tsunayoshi didn't participate in class, barely made it on time to class most days. His teachers had nothing good to say about him. There were more than one comment from people in town who thought he was a bit strange in the head.

In other words, nothing special to write home about. What was Nono thinking picking this child as his successor? Never mind that Xanxus was a loose cannon and all the other heirs were dead. Just looking at the reports, Reborn felt Vongola was better off finding someone unrelated to the famiglia and trying their luck there.

Meeting Sawada Tsunayoshi had confirmed all the information and enforced Reborn's poor opinion of him. The boy shrieked, so loud it hurt Reborn's ears, and all but fled the minute Reborn explained why he was here.

Clearly, Reborn had his work cut out of him.

Two hours later though, Tsunayoshi came back. (He would never admit it, but it had been some baffling two hours for Reborn. Someone, somehow, managed to swap his hat with what he could only describe as a miniature confetti volcano without him noticing. It had been raining confetti for an hour and Reborn couldn't pinpoint where it had been coming from. It took another fifteen minutes for him to clue on that it was coming from his hat and another 45 minutes of him trying to track down who on earth had the guts to do. He didn't succeed.)

With him was a young man with blond hair, easily five years older than Tsuna. What floored Reborn was the potential he sensed for Rain Flames. Powerful Rain Flames.

"Are you Reborn?" the young man asked. His stance looked deceptively relaxed, facial expression almost sleepy looking, but Reborn didn't miss the steel in his words.

"Ciassou, I am," Reborn said. "You are?"

"Doesn't matter. We need to _talk_. What is this about turning Tsuna into a mafia boss?"

"Marco!" Tsunayoshi yelped. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

Interesting. Reborn didn't think Tsunayoshi had anyone he would have reliably turn to for advice. So, his fleeing wasn't so much denial as recognition that he was in over his head and went to find someone older and thus more responsible. Huh. Reborn was almost impressed. He didn't expect that from Tsunayoshi.

"Exactly that," Reborn said. "Tsunayoshi is the heir to a powerful mafia famiglia. They hired me to tutor him into the next boss."

Marco's eyes narrowed just a fraction. "That isn't happening."

Cute. Like they had a choice in the matter.

The smell of smoke was his only warning as Reborn narrowly jumping backwards to dodged the flaming Molotov cocktail being flung at him. He heard Tsuna yelp, "Ace! Not in the house!"

As Reborn landed, the floorboard he had landed on, launched him out the window like a catapult. He flew out of the house, got caught in some sort of black cloth, wrapped up tight and the sounds of being dropped in water. He raised an eyebrow as the water began to seep inside. Huh.

Sawada Tsunayoshi might be a meek kid, but his friends were clearly a bloodthirsty, protective lot if their first reaction to Reborn was to _kill_ him.

He might actually enjoy this job.

-.-.-.-

"I can't believe they want to make you into a mafia boss," Tony said, waving his hand. "I mean, look at you!"

Tsuna flinched at Tony's words. Ace pulled him closer, hugging him tighter and growling over Tsuna's shoulder.

"Not like that," Tony protested. "You're just-" he reached out to pet Tsuna's fluffy brown hair, "-so _nice_. Like sunshine and happiness. There's no way someone like you could even be a mafia boss."

"I do not want to become a mafia boss," Tsuna said glumly. He hunched his shoulders.

"Tsuna is not going to be a mafia boss," Marco said, rubbing his temples.

"Yeah!" Morgana agreed. He jumped onto Tsuna's lap, headbutting Tsuna's stomach. "You're way better than a mafia boss."

"Also, you win 'Who has the World's Shittiest Dad' award," Tony said. "Mines just ignores me and is leaving me a weapon manufacturing company. Yours is ignoring you, is a criminal, and wants you to become a mafia boss."

" _Why_ , exactly, is Tsuna becoming a mafia boss and not his father?" Kaito asked.

Silence.

"If I ever meet your father, Tsuna, he's a dead man," Ace said, growling.

"Please don't do anything that will land you in jail," Tsuna protested.

"I agree with Ace," Marco said.

"Marco! You're not supposed to be encouraging them for murder."

"This is an exception," Marco said. He crossed his arms. "You know, Tsuna, if you ever wanted it, Pops would have adopted you in a heartbeat."

Tsuna blinked. "O-oh." He looked down at the ground, unable to stop his cheeks from turning red.

"In the meantime, you can stay here," Marco said.

"No fair! I was going to offer that," Tony protested.

"My house is free too," Kaito said. "Mom flew to Las Vegas."

"We'll rotate," Marco said. "If he's as any good as he claims to be, that Reborn won't be giving up any time soon."

"What you're saying is that we should drive him out of town?" Kaito said, bouncing on the balls of feet. His grin was wide, a little too wide, promising chaos.

"Have fun," Marco said.

"I'll help!" Morgana offered, tail flickering.

"Again, _please_ don't do anything that will land you in jail," Tsuna said.

"That's what lawyers are for," Tony said.

"Tony!"

-.-.-.-

Reborn could honestly say he was thrilled, no matter how frustrated he was. An intriguing game of cat and mouse as these kids managed to keep Tsunayoshi just out of his reach. How fascinating.

They were young, but smart. There wasn't a pattern to the days Tsunayoshi went to school, whose house he went over (he was also certain he was missing a player completely, possibly two), or where they went. He was good enough to catch glimpses. Even managed to corner Tsunayoshi for a few minutes before someone (usually the boy named Ace) came out of nowhere (usually armed with even more Molotov cocktails) to sweep Tsunayoshi away.

Then there were the _traps_.

The town was covered in them and despite his best efforts and careful nature, he still managed to trigger far too many. (If they were any more lethal, he could admit he would have been dead ten times over.)

The catapult trap got him the most. It appeared to be calibrated to his exact weight as Reborn had observed others bigger and smaller than him trending across the same spot. It was also never in the same spot and he was getting sick of swimming to dry land.

(He would never admit it, but they also got him with the drugged coffee, box him up and ship him home. It was only his long built up resistance to such drugs that he woke up and escaped before the handlers could place the box he was trapped in on the plane.)

There was also the random brightly colored dye that his hair kept changing to, a mockery of rainbow hues. The careful shredding of his hats and replacement of his clothes. (Joke was on them, Reborn was comfortable in any outfit. He had to be for his disguises to work.)

Color him impressed.

The only reason why Reborn hadn't retaliated in full force was because these were Tsunayoshi's friends. Guardians really. Their potential, what little he had seen of them shone like stars. Except for Sun and Cloud (and possibly Mist, Reborn wasn't sure), Tsunayoshi had collected a decent set.

Newgate Marco was the eldest and clearly the most responsible of the lot. A vast ocean of potential of Rain Flames, calm and collected. Also, one of the many children of Newgate Edward, owner of WhiteBeard Corporation.

Portgas D. Ace was Tsunayoshi's age and another adopted child of Newgate Edward. He was like a big guard dog for Tsunayoshi, towering over would-be bullies and a crazy love with fire. His unawaken Storm Flames was like an explosion waiting to go off.

Tony Stark gave Reborn some pause. He had no idea why the Stark heir was in Japan of all places, much less in a sleepy town like Namimori. He also had no idea what Stark could be getting out of this deal when he was mentally ahead then this entire group. But there was a well of Lightning Flames and Reborn was getting Verde flashbacks from it. He wasn't sure if it was good thing or not.

The last piece of the puzzle seemed to be Kuroba Kaito who hovered on the edges of the group. It was hard to say if he was a friend or not. Attention seeking, magician, actor and if Reborn had to guess, an adrenaline junkie who was just barely getting his fix. Unlike the others who kept to the group, Kaito was always in the spotlight, causing mischief. Reborn was sensing some sort of potential here but couldn't place his finger one it. It felt like Mist. Most likely was Mist. The only question is whether it would meld with the rest of Tsunayoshi's Elements properly.

Reborn was going to have bring out the big guns soon. It was fine if they wanted to keep away from him. That in itself was training. But it meant nothing if he didn't dissolve the (stupid) seal Nono had placed on Tsunayoshi. There was no point in training if Tsunayoshi didn't have access to his full potential to actually learn how to use it.

Well, he always was a sniper at the heart and he doubt any of the kids could defend against that.

-.-.-.-

"Man, he does not give up," Kaito complained, lowering his binoculars. He had been watching from the rooftop of a nearby building as Reborn had stalked down a street, trailing after the path that Ace and Tsuna had taken home and (disappointingly) avoiding the six traps Kaito had set that way.

"Vongola's security sucks," Tony announced. "I expected better from the so-called 'strongest mafia famgilia in the world'. So many holes. I'm almost insulted."

Kaito looked back where Tony was sitting. Several blue hologram displays were floating around him as Tony typed and tapped away. "Find anything good?" Kaito asked.

"Tsuna's bastard of a dad is head of some group called the CEDEF which is the reason why he isn't being tapped as next in line. Idiots. If blood is damn important, they would make the exception. I bet it's easier to find a CEDEF replacement," Tony said.

"Also, there is this guy called Xanxus. He's the youngest son of the current don," Tony said. He flicked his hand, turning the blue hologram screen to show Kaito a picture. "Apparently, he tried to pull a coup, got smacked down for it and locked up in a giant block of ice by his dad. No one is winning Father of the Year in the mafia."

"So let me get this straight. There is a perfectly good candidate, actually two perfectly good candidates. Putting aside Tsuna's bastard father, this Xanxus is current don's heir. And if he's pulling a coup that means he's actually bloodthirsty enough to want to be the next don," Kaito said, frigidly. "And yet they're going after _our Tsuna_?"

"Yup," Tony said, popping the 'p'.

They shared a look. "I got a private jet," Tony offered.

Kaito snorted. "Let's at least tell Marco first, unless you want suffer under both Tsuna's and his disappointing eyes. And I hope you also got a private airfield, otherwise, we're going the long way with fake identities."

Tony shuddered, dismissing his screens away. "Tell Marco first. He might even approve. It's not like we care that Vongola goes into a civil war because of this. And of course, we have a private airfield. I'm a Stark!"

-.-.-.-

Sakuraba Neku could almost appreciate the quietness of Namimori. It was so vastly different from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya. He was nostalgic for the city, but… maybe his parents were a little correct in that the change of scenery would help.

(It didn't stop him from being so bitter from being ripped away from his new friends, but it wasn't like his parents understood.)

Four months after moving out here and Neku was bored out of his mind, but the quiet, the ability to just decompress and really think about what happened in Shibuya was nice. He could sort out his feelings towards what Joshua did and the way Neku had been used like a pawn on a bigger chessboard. It left him with simmering betrayal, forgiveness and pity for his partner.

Maybe he would just go back this weekend to see Shiki and others.

"Hide me!"

Neku was startled out of his thoughts as boy with fluffy brown hair darted inside of the shop, ducking behind the table Neku was browsing. Instantly, Neku went on guard, the old habits of avoiding Reapers and Noises having yet to fade and shifted his body block the other boy.

Did Namimori have its own Reaper's Game? Damnit, he should have tried harder to track down Joshua before Neku was forced out here.

Neku tensed as he sensed someone approaching. He was useless in the RG, but still his hand went over his pins, ready to pounce.

Then out of the bushes came a suit-wearing baby. Neku blinked. In the same instant, a different teenager with black hair, came flying out of nowhere armed with a flaming Molotov cocktail and threw it at said baby. Instead of watching a fiery death of a toddler, Neku watched in disbelief as the baby pulled out a gun from nowhere, destroying the cocktail and shards of glass and sparks of fire went everywhere.

When the dust settled, they were gone.

Wary, Neku approached the door of the shop, peering outside. The street was completely empty, both baby and teenager were nowhere in sight.

"What was that," Neku asked flatly.

The fluffy brown-haired teenager popped up from behind the table, looking sheepish. "S-sorry. That was… Reborn. And Ace."

"Is that normal?" Neku asked. It wasn't… so strange. Not compared to Reapers and Noises. He had seen a lot of strange things in the Reaper game. Fire being thrown around was fine. Neku could do the same himself with his pins. But… a suit-wearing baby with a gun. That… that was a new one.

The teen nodded. "Yeah. Ever since Reborn showed up a month ago," he said meekly, wincing. "I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. I'm really sorry about this."

"Sakuraba Neku. Can I ask why it's normal?"

Tsunayoshi flinched. "Reborn is here to recruit me into the _family business_. Ace takes offense to that. All my friends do."

Family business was said so bitterly with so much disdain. "Yazuka?" Neku asked aloud, coming to the conclusion. It didn't sound like a normal regular "family business" given the way Tsunayoshi had said it.

Tsunayoshi's face crumpled. Mentally, Neku flailed. 'What would Shiki do?'

"That's rough," Neku said. He kicked himself.

Tsunayoshi's shoulders slumped. "I know."

"If you ever need another place to hide, come find me," Neku offered. On the run from criminals, no different than being on the run from Reapers. And Neku always sided with the Players.

Tsunayoshi looked at him, searching for something. For a brief moment, Neku swore Tsunayoshi's eyes gleamed orange. Then, he smiled weakly. "Thank you, Sakuraba-san."

"Just Neku. Anytime."

-.-.-.-

It happened early on a Sunday morning.

Just as Ace, Marco, Morgana and Tsuna stepped outside in hunt for breakfast. Simple, easy, silently. A single gunshot from over 200 meters away.

Tsuna crumpled to the ground.

And the world exploded in orange.

* * *

Title comes from this beautiful poem (seitosokusha#.#tumblr#.#com#/post/170667548853/ttender-everyone-who-terrifies-you-is

I got this amazing ask about if I could pick any character from any series who would I pick for Tsuna's Guardians. It was surprisingly hard to do, even with my bias towards my favorite characters as many didn't really fit into the role of Guardians and/or the relationship they would have with Tsuna. Then some awesome people (who know who you are) fed the plunny and here we are.

This will be updated pretty sporadically. (RL is currently destroying me.)

Please leave a review on your way out.


	2. Chapter 2

Tsuna had always known _something_ had gone wrong when he was a child. He didn't know what it was or why it went wrong. All he knew was that somewhere in the hazy memories of childhood, shortly after his father visited for the last time, the world got tilted on its side, turning everything _fuzzy._ It was like he was stuck in a fog and mindlessly wandering in whichever direction, hopelessly lost.

Nothing Tsuna did could make that fog go away. It made the simple, easy, little tasks that everyone could do so much harder. He struggled with coordination, had a harder time grasping what the teachers were trying to teach him, even the easy instructions Nana gave him were tremendously hard to the point that even in her airheaded haze, Nana noticed and stopped giving him chores and tasks.

There was something missing and Tsuna instinctively knew it wasn't physical or mental, but soul deep. It was frustrating when people asked him "what is wrong?" and "why are you having trouble with this?" and he wouldn't have an answer, couldn't explain it no matter how hard he tried. Eventually they stopped asking. Eventually they gave up on him, writing him off as lazy or just dumb.

Stupid. Idiot. Useless. _Dame-Tsuna_. Those were the words that other children hurled at him, easily picking out that Tsuna was weak. They prey on that, picking out those who didn't fit into nice standard mold. Tsuna hated it. Life was so miserable. He couldn't think, couldn't understand and it was frustrating.

Meeting Morgana had been a lifeline. Somehow, for some reason, Morgana was able to cut through the fog just a little. If Tsuna focused, really, really, really, focused, he could hear and _comprehend_ the things that Morgana was telling him.

He still struggled to complete the tasks, but with Morgana, he was remembering more. Remembering to do his homework, to brush his teeth, to put away his clothes, to go to bed at a reasonable time. Maybe it took forever to do, but at least it got done.

It wasn't perfect, but slowly Nana took notice and began to rely on Tsuna again with simple chores that Tsuna willingly took on. Morgana's constant reminders ensured that Tsuna completed at least one day out of the week's homework assignments and that he made it to class (mostly on time) three times a week.

He could cope with this and didn't dare to ask for more. (He wouldn't burden Morgana like that, no matter how many times Morgana insisted it was fine.)

Then came Ace and soon after Marco wandered into his life. Like Morgana, they both managed to cut through the fog in Tsuna's mind. It brought clarity in a different way. Ace… was explosive but protective in his own rough way. In another world, he would have been a good big brother (who was maybe just a little too rough on his siblings). Ace was Tsuna's anger, raging at the injustice and unfairness of the world, at the bullies who were wrong and blind and just didn't understand. Ace was warmth, adventure and passion and Tsuna learned to live a little, confront his problems and burn as bright as a star.

Marco, on the other hand, brought knowledge and patience. He took the time every day to explain to Tsuna his homework, helping when Tsuna stumbled. It took Tsuna hours to finish it and most of it was still wrong, but he was finishing it. Marco patiently waited for Tsuna to finish, working on his own homework or helping Ace in the meantime. Marco was calm, hard work, and patient understanding and Tsuna learned to forgive himself a little and to keep working at it.

By the time Kaito arrived in town, Tsuna had what he could consider an average life with just barely passing grades (nothing would ever improve at this point, what Tsuna needed was more time) and a functional social life (three friends were more than Tsuna ever hoped for.)

Kaito was grief, energy and creativity. Where Ace was an explosion that dragged Tsuna along, Kaito was a challenge and in his own way, demanded that Tsuna keep up. Tsuna did so, a ringing in his head, like a siren, bidding him to follow and chase. Kaito thought outside of the box, no he set the box on fire and spread its ashes, and Tsuna followed, mostly on instinct. When he finally caught Kaito and found the storm of grief, Tsuna learned how to be a shelter.

Tony was like Kaito but it showed in different ways. Tony was sharp edges, quick wit and confidence. He went so fast, faster than Kaito, that Tsuna struggled and struggled. And Tony's own defenses, his sharp tongue and words, cutting so deep, and they still sometimes landed blow by blow on Tsuna. (Tony always looks so chastised when he managed to say something so harsh, but Tsuna can hardly fault him when it was _true_. Tony rarely lied, deflected yes, omitted yes, but rarely outright lied.) None of it stood when all Tsuna had to look at the media to see how they were portraying Tony or even the casual dismissal Tony had about his parents. (That was anger burning from their mistreatment.) Tsuna learned from Tony confidence in what he did, to not care what people think, and to let words roll off like water on skin.

Life, Tsuna thought, was good. It still wasn't perfect. He was still missing something (possibly two things, but one was far more important than the other). But he had good friends and a life he could cope with, be content with, be satisfied with.

Then came Reborn. Suddenly Tsuna was the heir to a blood-soaked empire that he wanted nothing to do it. He was being held and martyred by the sins of an ancestor he never knew. He didn't want that. Never asked for it. Tsuna had no dreams of power, no desires for the world at large. All he wanted a simple, quiet life.

All he felt was a pain in his forehead before everything exploded in orange.

The fog was gone. Tsuna took a deep breath, marveling at how easy it was to breath, how easy it was to think. Here was the missing piece.

"Tsuna?"

Marco's voice called out, luring him home.

Tsuna blinked, the orange warmth drawing inside of him. He blinked again, vision clearing to see Marco leaning over him. He blinked a third time, recognizing Ace behind Marco and weight of Morgana on his chest.

"Marco?" Tsuna asked. His voice sounded weird to him, deeper. Everything was both hot and cold, but still crystal clear.

"Impressive. I didn't think you would master that form right off the bat."

Tsuna flinched, warmth flaring up as he recognized both _danger_ and _ally_ at the same time.

There was Reborn looking at them with a smug expression. "Now are you willing to listen to me?"

"Explain," Marco harshly demanded. "And your explanation will determine if the next trap we catch you in is lethal or not."

"I wouldn't expect anything less."

-.-.-.-

Curiouser and curiouser.

Everything about Sawada Tsunayoshi was determined to challenge expectations. Reborn expected Dying Will Mode and a hilarious exchange of clothes bursting off. Instead he witnessed the orange Sky Flames condensing, settling into Hyper Dying Will Mode.

Never, in any written instance of Vongola's history, had that ever happened. Not on the first try.

Reborn sat patiently on one side of the table. On the other side of the table, Ace and Marco flanked Tsuna and Tsuna's pet cat, Morgana sat in Tsuna's lap. They had come to the nearby park, as neutral as a territory as it could get.

The change in Tsuna was remarkable. He was sitting up straight, eyes crystal clear and glowing orange. The only reason why Reborn hadn't been attacked was the desire for information and the fact that Tsuna was calm. (The kids never knew that the calm was an artificial side effect of Hyper Dying Will Mode.)

He had to be careful here, play his cards right. It was fine if they hated him or tried to avoid him. But Marco's threat of lethal retaliation and the uncomfortable truth that Reborn had fallen into many of their traps, meant he had to tread carefully. Reborn couldn't afford to alienate them.

Besides, if Tsuna's Hyper Intuition was as strong as Reborn expected it to be, he couldn't even lie. No matter, Reborn would win them over with the truth.

"In the mafia there is a special ability we call Dying Will Flames," Reborn explained. "There are many different colors, each with its own ability. Orange, the color of Tsuna's Flames, is known as Sky Flames, the rarest of the Dying Will Flames. Sky Flames' ability is harmonization."

He continued to explain the other Flame Types and characteristics, a short and informative summary.

"This sounds like something out of a fairy tale," Ace accused. "How can we trust what you're saying is even true."

Reborn cocked his head, looking straight at Tsuna. "Tsuna?"

"...He isn't lying," Tsuna quietly conceded.

"Vongola's Hyper Intuition, the birthright of Vongola Dons and Donnas. In the most basic mode, the ability to tell truth from lie," Reborn said, smug. "I will teach you how to control your Flames if you also sit through the mafia don lessons."

"No," Tsuna said.

Foolish child. Did he really think he had a choice? "No one else will be willing to teach you," Reborn pointed out.

"No," Tsuna said, his voice unwavering and stronger than steel. "Leave now."

Reborn watched the subtle tremble that Tsuna was hiding. Best not to push. "Very well," Reborn said. He left with a tip of his hat. "All you have to do is merely return home to find me."

-.-.-.-

"Tsuna?" Morgana asked as soon as Reborn had disappeared. He let out a soft meow, placing a paw on Tsuna's chest.

Tsuna shuddered. His fist gripped tight, suddenly flared with fire. Hastily he shook is out, looking distressed. "I do not want to be a mafia boss," he said, voice trembling. The orange in his eyes faded, returning brown.

Ace reached over, dropping an arm across Tsuna's shoulders. "No one is going to force you into anything," he said.

Marco ruffled Tsuna's hair. "Come on. Let's go back home. I'll make pancakes for breakfast instead."

"Chocolate chip?" Tsuna asked.

Marco smiled fondly. "As much chocolate chips as you want."

-.-.-.-

"What the hell do you mean Reborn _shot_ Tsuna?" Tony asked.

Kaito froze mid step, turning his full attention to Tony. "What?" he hissed.

"He's… well not fine," Morgana's voice came over the speaker. "Physically he is. It didn't actually hurt him. Instead it unlocked some sort of superpower that all of the Mafia has. Reborn is blackmailing lessons on control in exchange that Tsuna also learn how to be a mafia don."

"Over my dead body," Tony and Kaito chorused darkly together.

Morgana huffed. "Just hurry back." He ended the call with a click.

"We leave the country for a few days and it all goes to hell while we're gone," Tony complained.

Kaito snorted, tugging on his gloves. He looked down at the mansion located below. He tugged down his night vision goggles, turning his world green. "We have a job to do," Kaito said.

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said. "Layout loaded, and I'm already in their systems. There's a gap in patrols in five minutes in which you can slip pass the first layer of security. Remember to get into an open area so I can pick you up."

"Got it." Kaito took a second to look around. "Afterwards we gotta talk about how long you've had an invisible hovercraft."

Tony scoffed. "I had the hovercraft forever. You're the one who wanted free dive onto the roof of Vongola's mansion. I spent the entire trip over here inventing cloaking tech."

Kaito grinned. "Well it looks hell of impressive. See you soon." He gave Tony a mock salute and fell backwards, diving straight for the rooftop.

-.-.-.-

Marco finished the washing the last dish, setting it on the dish rack. Wiping his hands dry, he glanced over in the living room. There crashed on the ground and lightly snoring was Ace, one of his scheduled naps to combat his narcoleptic attacks. Tsuna was curled up, head resting on Ace's chest, emotionally wrought from this morning. Morgana had made his spot nestled between the two of them.

Pulling out his phone, Marco snapped a picture and sent it off to his siblings and pops. This scene was more common than one would think, but it never stopped being adorable every time Marco found them like this.

His phone vibrated and right on cue, that would be pops calling. "Hey Pops," Marco said.

"Marco!" Edward's voice boomed on the other side with his gruff laugh. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Marco said. "School been fine, my health is good, yoi. Your health better be good."

"Bah! Doctors! They worry too much! So, do you and your siblings!"

"Of course, we do," Marco said. "You're Pops. Ace is doing fine too. Getting his pyromaniac fix these last two months, yoi."

"Do I have to pay for any damages?" Pops asked, genuinely curious.

"Just one place. It honestly wasn't that bad. I already sent it to Haruta," Marco said. "Ace is getting better about where he's throwing his fire around."

"And Tsuna-kun?"

"Well he might take you up on your offer to adopt him. He found out something unfortunate on his father side and hasn't been handling it well," Marco said. The idea of Tsuna being a mafia boss was horrifying. Marco had known him for close to five years now and he still remember that terrified child that had brought home a bloodied, beaten up Ace, apologizing for something that wasn't his fault. The same child who brought injured stray animals to the vet, who tried so hard to understand, who was so achingly lonely when Marco had first met him.

Yeah, no. Tsuna would become a mafia boss over Marco's dead body.

Especially because Tsuna didn't even want to be one.

"Hmm, do I have to reach out to my connections?" Edward asked.

It was a bit of an open family secret that before Edward had become the CEO of WhiteBeard Corporation, he had run a fairly powerful yakuza gang turned pirate crew in his youth. And these days, while everything was kept mostly clean and straight, he still maintained his connections to the underworld.

(Primarily because they were great drinking buddies, but that was neither here nor there.)

"Not yet," Marco said. "I'll let you know."

"I have faith in your decisions, Marco," Edward said. "How are the others then? Tony and Kaito. I assume Morgana wants more sushi."

"Morgana isn't allowed anymore sushi or else he's going to get fat," Marco retorted quickly. Oh he was used to Morgana's wide cat eyes and begging. Tsuna always gave in, but Marco was quick to put his foot down. That much sushi was not good for Morgana's health.

"Tony and Kaito are still causing mischief like the pair they are," Marco continued. He was not going to think about what they were currently doing. He was not. He absolutely was not.

"Do I need fight for Tony's adoption too? I will _gladly_ face down Howard Stark in the courtroom," Edward asked. Though Marco couldn't see him, he knew that his Pops had his eyes narrowed.

"No. He'll greatly appreciate it though," Marco said.

"Well then keep me posted," Edward said, just a touch mournfully.

"I will," Marco replied. "Please listen to your doctors."

"Bah! You're starting to sound like Izo!"

"I'll call Thatch and tell him to hide all your sake."

"Marco!"

"Behave Pops," Marco said. "And no one will take away your sake, yoi."

"When did I raise such a tyrant son?" Edward asked.

Marco huffed, laughing silently. "Talk to you later, Pops."

The fire, Tsuna found, was difficult to control. Or rather, he had no control. "Sorry," he said, glumly, looking at what used to be the kitchen table in Marco and Ace's apartment. Ever since yesterday he had been having little flares. It was easy to snuff them out before they got out of control but, the table had been a big one.

Ace shrugged. "It's not the first time it's happened."

Marco huffed. "Yes. Don't worry Tsuna. Ace has done worst."

"Pyromaniac," Morgana said, rolling his eyes.

Ace reached out to tug on Morgana's cheeks. "What was that?"

Morgana hissed. "You heard me!"

"Not now you two," Marco said. He reached out to pat Tsuna on the head. "Don't worry about it okay."

Tsuna nodded miserably.

-.-.-.-

It had been a little over a month since Neku saw Tsunayoshi. In some ways he was both relieved and worried. On one hand, that meant no strange oddities. (It didn't stop him from jumping at shadows for two weeks after their meeting.) Definitely no suit-wearing babies with guns.

On the other hand, did that mean something happened to Tsunayoshi? There were guns involved and Neku was twitchy around guns. Not to mention Tsunayoshi's little issue with the yakuza. Had they done something?

He turned down the aisle in the supermarket to find Tsunayoshi crouch down to the ground. "Tsunayoshi?" Neku asked, setting his basket on the ground and crouching down next to him.

Tsunayoshi looked up at him, the brown in his eyes quickly replacing with orange (and Neku decided then, things were always going to be strange around Tsunayoshi.) They watered slightly as if Tsunayoshi was ready to break.

"Neku-san," Tsunayoshi said, voice wobbly.

"Just Neku," Neku corrected. He was never big on honorifics. "Are you alright?"

"Then just Tsuna please," Tsuna said, side stepping Neku's question. He wiped away his tears with his hands. "Marco… Marco asked me to pick up some flour and Ace had detention today because he got into another fight with another one of my bullies and Morgana is out distracting Reborn. And I got to the supermarket and spent too much time thinking…"

He trailed off, looking absolutely heartbroken. "I don't know what to do," he whispered.

"Do you need a hug?" Neku weakly offered. He wasn't big on tactile touch, but Tsuna looked like he needed the physical reassurance and Neku definitely got that; he spent far too much time making sure he could actually touch people after the Reaper Game. Plus, at this point Shiki would have pulled Tsuna into a hug, so would have Rhyme. Beat would have at least thrown his arm around Tsuna's shoulder (and Joshua… Joshua would have said something snarky and inappropriate.)

Tsuna nodded and flopped straight into Neku's open arms. Neku awkwardly patted Tsuna's back. "It will be okay," he said. Sourly, Neku didn't like the way Tsuna was trembling, buckling under whatever burden someone (his _family_ ) had placed on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Tsuna pulled away, looking a little more composed. He wiped away the newly formed tears and shook his head as if trying to clear the cobwebs. "Thank you."

"Still having family troubles?" Neku asked.

Tsuna laughed bitterly. "You could say that. He… Reborn… trying to blackmail me into lessons."

Well, Neku was liking the suit-wearing baby even less now. "Does it have anything to do with why your eyes are now orange?"

Tsuna flinched and the orange flickered out of his eyes, brown returning. "Supposedly the mafia has super magical powers. And Reborn did… something. I-I can't control it," he said, looking down at the ground in shame.

"Ah," Neku said. Reborn had immediately dropped to the same level as Megumi in Neku's books.

Tilting his head, Tsuna blinked at him curious. "You're taking that rather well."

Neku shrugged, offering a hand out to help Tsuna off the floor. "I'm originally from Shibuya and technically, I died there. Officially, I was in a coma for three weeks and it was a miracle I survived."

"Unofficially?" Tsuna asked, accepting Neku's hand.

"If anyone asks, the Reaper Game is a cruel but effective system," Neku said dryly. He had never spoken to anyone about what had happened during those three weeks. Not to anyone but his friends, not even the therapist his parents were currently forcing him to see. Who would really believe it? But telling Tsuna felt right.

And if the mafia (not yakuza, interesting) had magical powers, well maybe Tsuna would understand.

Tsuna just nodded, not pushing for any other answers. Instead he picked up the bag of flour. "Thank you," Tsuna said, looking much better than when Neku had first found him.

Neku scooped up his basket. "No problem. Just one thing, Tsuna."

"Hm?"

"If you ever see a silver haired teen my age with purple eyes promise me you'll punch him in the face before coming to finding me."

-.-.-.-

Well, Reborn could honestly say he didn't see this coming.

He woke up this morning to find both Tony Stark and Kuroba Kaito asleep in the Sawada Household's living room. That was strange, given none of them, including Tsuna, had been over in the last two months since Reborn's arrival. He did note that they had vanished two weeks ago, but Reborn hadn't had the time to look into it. No, the most alarming thing was the block of ice that contained Xanxus right next to the couch.

"Ara~ How impressive!" Nana exclaimed with a wide smile.

(Reborn questioned what Iemitsu saw in her. Truly he did. Because she was so damn oblivious. Maybe that was the point.)

"Why on earth they did bring him here?"

Reborn twirled around to spot Tsuna with Morgana in his arms entering the living room. Morgana hissed, tail thrashing around.

"Jarvis would have asked questions," Kaito said, sitting up right. He stretched, rubbing his eyes. "And my mom is going to be back soon.

"Tsu-kun!" Nana said, pulling her son into a hug. "Did you enjoy your sleepovers? And you should have told me Tony-kun and Kaito-kun were sleeping over. I would have given them our extra futons! Oh, you must all be hungry! I'll start in breakfast!" She rushed back into the kitchen.

"How do you know about Xanxus?" Reborn asked sharply. "And how did you even get him here?" In the privacy of his mind, he was baffled. He had never mentioned Xanxus at all.

"A magician never reveals his tricks," Kaito said. There was something dangerous lurking in his eyes. Magician, huh? So Kaito was the one setting all the traps that Reborn walked into.

"I'm surprised you didn't thaw him out," Tsuna said.

"Not normal ice," Kaito said. He gestured to Tony. "Tony was analyzing it. But as you can see, in perfectly normal temperatures, it still remains frozen, not even dripping."

They shared look before turning to look at Reborn.

Reborn scoffed. "I don't plan on teaching you anything until you agree to being Vongola's Heir."

Kaito's blue eyes narrowed and a smile spread across his face. "By the way, what did I hear about you _shooting_ Tsuna?"

Reborn scoffed again. He was just doing his job. The seal had to come off.

"We won't need his help," Tsuna said quietly. He approached the block of ice. Morgana jumped up onto Tsuna's shoulder as Tsuna reached out, orange Flames flickering to life. As soon as they touched the ice, it began to melt.

In seconds, Xanxus was free and he came out swinging. He shattered the remaining ice, still armed with his guns and Sky Flames gathering. "YOU-!"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as Morgana shouted, "GARU!" A large gust of wind blew Xanxus backwards and out the patio door, crashing into the yard.

Reborn blinked. He was certain he had just heard Morgana speak. Morgana spoke and then a summoned a gust of wind from nowhere? Wind? Talking cat? But-

He ruthlessly shoved that aside for now. Right now, watching how Xanxus was going to react was far more important.

-.-.-.-

Xanxus flailed his arms, struggling to gain his bearings. What the fuck was happening? Where the hell was he? The last thing he remember was facing the shitty old man and the chilly sensation of ice crawling up his limbs. "What-?"

"Calm the fuck down," a boy said. His arm was covered in a red metal gauntlet, pointed straight at Xanxus.

"Yes," another voice agreed, from behind Xanxus, the barrel of a gun leveled to Xanxus's head. "We're not your enemy here, but if you're going to be difficult we'll deal with you."

Xanxus snarled. "Who the fuck are you? Where-" He didn't recognize anything. Where were his men? Where was the shitty old man?

"This is Namimori, Japan. Today's date is September 27th, 20xx," a third boy with fluffy brown hair called out from the patio. He stepped outside cautiously, a cat hissing on his shoulder.

"Eight-!" Xanxus started, swearing under his breath. You had to be kidding!

"Yeah, eight years since your old man froze you. Man, you're gonna beat us all out for shittiest father in the world," metal gauntlet wearing boy mocked.

Xanxus growled, teeth bared. He spotted Reborn next to brown haired one, sneering at him. "And what is this? The old man finally decided to kill me?"

"This is Sawada Tsunayoshi, Vongola Decimo," Reborn said, introducing Tsuna.

What the fuck. No, really. What the fuck. It had been long enough that old man kicked the can and found this child to take his place? Someone who had no damn connection to the famiglia? Why the hell was Xanxus not good enough for them?

"No."

To his surprise, Tsunayoshi's eyes flashed orange, the sign of Hyper Intuition. Xanxus felt the ocean of Sky Flames welling up. So… the kid was at least powerful.

"I am not Vongola Decimo," Tsunayoshi said, glaring at Reborn. "Your father may wish so and Reborn was sent here to teach me. But I do not _want_ to become Decimo. The reason why you're here is because I wanted to know if you wanted position instead."

"Tsuna," Reborn barked.

"No, Reborn," Tsuna hissed. "I keep telling you. I don't want it!"

Xanxus just stared at him, trying to process the words. This… brat didn't want Vongola and was _offering_ it to him? What the hell?

Wait a minute. Sawada. "You're Sawada Iemitsu's kid," Xanxus said. There wasn't any real resemblance, must take after the mother, but Xanxus remembered the gushing he was forced to listen to between meetings with the shitty old man and the CEDEF leader. He sneered, remembering that it was true that Iemitsu could trace his roots back Primo. So the 'true' heir then, or whatever bullshit his old man was spewing now.

"Sperm donor would be more accurate," the brat with metal gauntlet said.

"Tony," Tsuna said in a tone that was long suffering. "Kaito, please put that away."

Xanxus felt the gun barrel disappear from the back of his head. Whoever Kaito was though, they remained in Xanxus' blind spot. Huh, so this brat had some worthy Guardians.

"I haven't seen my father since I was five. There's little love in the relationship, especially when you consider that I'm in this predicament because of him," Tsuna said, rubbing his temples in what was probably a growing headache. "I don't want to inherit Vongola. I'll sign whatever paper to make it official, swear in front a witness, whatever I need to do, to make sure I forfeit my right to inherit."

Interesting. Really interesting. Xanxus narrowed his eyes. "And if I don't want it?"

"Then we will drop you off wherever you want to go and I get to have this talk with my father. But we both know what you say is a lie," Tsuna said. The orange in his eyes grew a little brighter.

The kid was powerful. No wonder the old man wanted him as his successor. "What the fuck do you get out of this? You're fucking serious about not wanting power and money? Vongola will give you all of that and _more_ ," Xanxus said.

"I don't want it," Tsuna snapped. "I just want a quiet and peaceful life with my friends."

Reborn scoffed.

Tsuna _flared_ ; Sky Flames sparking around him. "Don't you dare judge!" Tsuna yelled, glaring at Reborn. "They took away everything when I was a child out of whatever misguided attempt to help or hurt me. This is the first time I've been able think **clearly** in eight years. And not only did you unlocked it in the most traumatic way possible, you're blackmailing me into accepting to be heir for lessons on control because you _know_ that I can't control it because of what they did to me!" To drive the point home, the nearby bushes spontaneously combust into ashes under Tsuna's flaring power.

Well, shit. The puzzles pieces snapped together for Xanxus. So somehow the fucking old man managed to screw up this kid. A seal from the sounds of it. Eight years, how old was the kid? He had to have been pretty young to have awaken his Flames. If the seal had been applied right after the kid had awaken it, it shot whatever control he would have gained. Seals were like dams, all they did was build up pressure. Instead of learning to control with a small trickle of power that would grow larger later, the kid was probably trying to wrestle control from a raging waterfall.

"Tsuna-," Reborn said.

"No! If you don't understand that I want nothing to with the man who ruined my ability to think clearly or with an absentee father who I wasn't even sure was alive until a year ago, then we have _nothing_ to talk about!" Tsuna said, in absolute frustration.

"A deal then," Xanxus cut in. "You let me inherit Vongola; it's just paperwork to make it official. In exchange, I'll teach you how to control your Sky Flames. I'll even throw in assassinating your father for free."

Tsuna swung his attention back to Xanxus, orange eyes blazing. "Nothing to do with the mafia," Tsuna pressed. "No other position I'm going to inherit, not me, not my friends or my mother. No war or coup you may or may not start. You leave us alone when it's all said and done."

"Fine. If you want a boring peaceful life, who am I to judge," Xanxus said. If the kid wanted to be a normal civilian that worked out for Xanxus. Once the kid had control over his Flames and Xanxus had control over Vongola, they would go their separate ways.

"Deal," Tsuna said. "As for assassinating my father, the sooner you can get it done the better."

Xanxus smirked. "I didn't think you would jump so easily at the chance."

Tsuna scowled. "If you don't, you will have to get in line. My friends have already determined who gets to kill him in what order and have about twenty different plans ready to use. I would honestly prefer for them to keep their hands clean of blood and you're the professional here."

Hot damn. It was a fucking shame that the kid didn't want anything to do with the mafia. He would do so fucking well.

"I like the way you think, kid," Xanxus said. "I'll get my men on it." He looked over at Reborn who was standing there silently, observing them all. "The only question left is what you're going to do, Arcobaleno. After all, you still report to the shitty old man."

"Who knows?" Reborn said nonchalantly.

As if the World's Greatest Hitman was anything but a frantic panic mess. Whatever plans and leverage he had, it was going up in flames. Especially if he had been resorting to blackmailing Dying Will Flames lessons in order to bring the kid under his thumb. That screamed of grasping at straws.

An Arcobaleno was a dangerous opponent sure, but the kid and his friends had outmaneuvered him. If he had a lick of common sense, he would back down. But who knew?

Xanxus shifted the weight in his feet lightly. Maybe it would be for the best if they took Reborn out right here, right now. Xanxus wasn't in the best of shape, but maybe if they caught Reborn by surprise.

"Is it a pride thing or a money thing?"

Xanxus twitched, realizing the _cat_ was talking.

The cat on Tsuna's shoulder was glaring down at Reborn. Xanxus caught subtle twitch, the same as his, of discomfort in Reborn. So, even the World's Greatest Hitman was taken off guard by a talking cat. How long had the kid been hiding that trick up his sleeve?

"If it's a money thing, we can buy out your contract," Tony said.

"If it's a pride thing," the cat continued, "Then I suggest you tread very carefully. Who knows what will happen the next time we catch you off guard."

Damn. Xanxus was liking the kid and his Guardians even more now. So much potential and questions in that last sentence alone. It implied they caught Reborn off guard before and judging from the confidence in the tone of voice, they had done enough so times that they believed they would do so again.

Reborn held up his hands. "Checkmate. You win," he said. "Buy out my contract and I won't tell Nono what happened here today."

-.-.-

Iemitsu took a sip of his coffee, reading over his schedule for the day. Day in, day out. So much work to be done. He picked up of the first report, flipping through it. It was a few days old, reporting a disturbance in the Vongola Mansion last week, but no known cause. It had been deemed a minor glitch in the system as nothing had been stolen or taken, no culprit spotted.

Well the computer systems were due for n update.

He felt a sharp stab of pain in his stomach. Iemitsu let out a hiss, nausea overcoming him. Bile built up in his throat as the room spun.

'Poison?' he thought, reaching and trying to press the panic button built into his desk. A blade slipped under his wrist, flickering it away.

"Ushishishi. Oh no, you don't."

Iemitsu felt his vision spin, seeing a blond teen waving a pair of knives. "W-who?" How did they get pass all the security? Without anyone, even Lal noticing?

"Die quickly," the blond said. "Or I'll cut you up for this. There's already not enough blood."

"Don't toy with your food."

Iemitsu gasped for air as the room flickered. Mist Flames flared for a brief moment, before revealing a floating baby. His eyes drifted to the pacifier around their neck. Arcobaleno, one of them. No wonder. But more importantly, he knew this one was part of the Varia. He had never figured out how they had managed to find and convince an Arcobaleno to join them.

"W-why?" Iemitsu asked, vision beginning to growing dark.

The blond grinned. "Greetings from your son."

Tsu-Tsuna? But-

Everything went dark.

* * *

Neku is a socially awkward boy who's mantra for dealing with social situations is "WHAT WOULD SHIKI DO?" (the joke is on him, Shiki is just as socially awkward)

And why, hello Xanxus. Glad you showed up.

* * *

Because it's highly requested:

Portgas D Ace & Marco (the Phoenix) = One Piece  
Kuroba Kaito = Magic Kaito/Detective Conan  
Tony Stark = Iron Man/Marvel  
Morgana = Persona 5  
Sakuraba Neku = The World Ends With You (TWEWY)

Every character in this fic is from an existing fandom. But with the exception of possibly TWEWY, you don't need to know those fandoms. Please, if you don't recognize them and want to know where they're from, google them. *wearily stares at the number of reviews who asked "where is x from?"*

* * *

Please leave a review on your way out.


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